The first female Indian-American governor in U.S. history today appointed the first African-American U.S. Senator in South Carolina history. Governor Nikki Haley’s appointment of the Palmetto State congressman that defeated the son of the state’s legendary Strom Thurmond in an 80%+ white district will make Tim Scott the only Black member of the U.S. Senate when it convenes in January.

That’s enough obeisance to the Mainstream media/Democratic Party myths concerning endemic Southern white tea partier racism and the supposed demographic problem of the Republican Party that prevented them from defeating Barack Obama in the Election of 2012. Let’ get to what really matters about today’s historic act:

Haley introduced Scott by saying no one could fill DeMint’s shoes, but appointing a trailblazer like Scott could show that it was a new day in South Carolina.

“The entire state understands this is the right U.S. senator,” said Haley, who became South Carolina’s first female governor in 2010.

Scott grew up in poverty in North Charleston. His parents divorced when he was 7, and he remembered his mom working 16 hours a day to support him and his brother. Scott, who is single, introduced his mother at the beginning of his speech.

But growing up with a single mother wasn’t always easy, Scott said. In high school, he was in danger of flunking out until he met the late John Moniz, a conservative entrepreneur who ran a Chick-fil-A beside the movie theater where Scott worked.

They became friends and Scott said Moniz taught him important values, like how enlightened self-interest requires giving first before reaping the reward of receiving and how growing the value of how you see yourself will make you look more important in other people’s eyes.

Scott would go on to get a degree in political science from Charleston Southern University, which is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention and touts how it integrates faith into learning and serving.

Scott said he wouldn’t have agreed to be a U.S. senator if he didn’t think he could make a difference.

“The future is incredibly bright for America,” Scott said. “We have our challenges and we have things to overcome, but boy, does the future look bright in South Carolina.”

The major influences in Scott’s life: Hard working mother, a Chick-fil-A conservative entrepreneur, and Southern Baptists. Not one mention of Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton or South Carolina’s Democratic Party race-baiting Congressman Jim Clyburn.